My son has one of those 1 acre residential lots popular in the Dallas area. It's mostly flat but has a drainage ditch across the front and down one side (corner lot). It's fully sodded and irrigated) HOA requires the ditch to be maintained. He's been mowing with a walk behind (self propelled) 32" Ferris rotary mower. It can require 4 hours of non-stop mowing to get it done in nice weather (80 degrees or less) but in the summer it can easily become a 6 hour job. Even when he starts early it's already 90 degree and gets to 100+ really quick. Humidity doesn't help either. The Bermuda grass can grow so fast it can require cutting twice a week at times. The Ferris is no lightweight (+/- 300 lbs) and has to be muscled around a fair amount. I agreed to go in on a zero turn or lawn tractor to hopefully cut this job down to a hour or two and far less physically demanding. He's a wreak for the rest of the day after mowing. The ditches will still probably have to be cut by hand. They have 20 degree plus back slopes for most of their length (ditches are about 275 and 159 feet long). I was thinking of a 48" max mower due to limited garage space. There are some budget limits and we set it at 4500. to 5000.00 (inc., taxes, delivery, etc.). Naturally we'd like to stay under that if possible. He has about 3000.00 into the Ferris and another 500.00 into a new Toro AWD rotary (for trimming where the Ferris can't get). What would be the best bang for the buck in that price range? I'm aware that a fabricated deck is preferred as is a Kawasaki or Kohler motor. We've looked at Exmark, Ariens, Bad Boy, Cub Cadet Ultima, Toro Time Cutter Max & my ride. All seem to have a good mower. We're not afraid of buying from a big box store if it's for a decent quality machine. We're also open to considering lawn tractors as well only because they might take up a little less space in the garage, might be a little better on slopes, add some versatility , should be easier and cheaper to maintain and tend to be cheaper than zero turns..
looking for a zero turn or lawn tractor for my son
- Thread starter GaryMX5
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